The Mech Touch

Ves' mind was almost blown.

He already expected the fourth major cultivation rank to be qualitatively better and stronger than the previous rank in every way, but his mother's description easily exceeded his imagination!

The keyword that defined this exceedingly powerful rank was dominion. It was not enough for True Gods to master their own domains. They had to develop their respective strengths while actively competing against other like-minded transcendents!

Unless they killed or subjugated any rivals and enemies that sought to advance along a similar trajectory, these True Gods would never be able to expand their power and longevity beyond a certain limit!

From what little descriptions Ves had gained from the two women, the gap between True Gods and God Kings was so immense that the latter could easily kill the former with just a single metaphorical slap!

Of course, Ves did not rule out the possibility that this was an exaggerated claim. If God Kings were so powerful, then why hadn't they already conquered the entire cosmos?

They had to possess limits! Ves should not get overwhelmed by their intimidating titles and mistake them as actual gods or whatever.

The fourth major cultivation rank was just a lot more powerful than the preceding one. That was it. There was no need for him to ascribe any other special meaning to this classification.

Ves managed to calm down a bit after he had sorted out his chaotic thoughts.

"Have the god pilots of the Red Association devised their own blueprints to the fourth major cultivation rank?"

"They certainly have more clues than your 'friend' over here." The Superior Mother said in a deceptively mild tone. "Just look at the First Flame. Being able to incarnate into a phoenix signifies that he has made significant attainments in his unique practice method. It remains to be seen whether his approach will lead to the best outcome. Transforming into a phoenix will cause the mech and mech pilot to lose definition and disappear."

[The First Flame most definitely knows what he may lose in the process, but he believes that it is worth it so long as humanity gains the protection of a God King, even if it is weaker and more deficient.] Irene explained with clear respect and admiration in her synthetic voice. [The limitless potential of a god pilot will not help our civilization if it takes hundreds or thousands of years for one to evolve into a god king pilot.]

Was that what god pilots called the fourth major rank of their progression trajectory? It sounded a bit lame to Ves, but he was not the one in charge of this matter.

From what he could gather from their talk, neither of them possessed a good impression of a phoenix.

Such a mythical creature most certainly possessed a lot of power depending on how the First Flame interpreted it. Yet it was also a beast that largely relied on its natural gifts rather than any difficult methods to grow into its power.

The most critical question was whether the First Flame would lose his god kingdom and his god mech in the process of transforming into a phoenix.

If this was the case, then the man undeniably paid a huge price to reach the fourth major cultivation rank!

Ves gained a lot more respect towards the First Flame for this reason. The man was more willing to sacrifice his future potential in order to better protect the people that relied on his protection.

"Can I ask another question?" Ves interrupted yet again. "Earlier, you described how True Gods must defeat all of the competitors that are trying to attain absolute dominion over their own concepts or rules. How can they possibly beat each other when they are spread across the entire cosmos? We are talking about a sphere that is as large as too billion light-years! I find it inconceivable that any cultivator or civilization has the ability to traverse so much distance within a reasonable timeframe."

The Superior Mother crossed her arms. "What I have described is an oversimplification. Distance is meaningless in this competition. True Gods must struggle against each other in a different layer of reality."

"I see. Doesn't this mean that older True Gods that already enjoy a head start have already claimed all of the good stuff?"

"Yes, but not entirely, my son. The greater concepts and laws are largely occupied by ancient God Kings that live to this day, but there are still numerous ones that are still 'available'. The difficulty of 'claiming' them is so difficult that none of the True Gods that have emerged in the past has conquered them. There is still a possibility that younger True Gods with stronger foundations can succeed where their predecessors have failed."

That sounded rather dubious to Ves. If these ultra-powerful concepts and rules remained untouched for so long, then there had to be more behind their unattainable conditions.

"Does that mean that True Gods virtually have no chance to become God Kings based on powerful concepts?"

[I would like to know the answer to this as well.] Irene spoke up with her synthesized voice. [I need to know whether my current approach leads to a dead end.]

The Superior Mother did not dare to gaze too deeply in the direction of Irene, but she still managed to pick up enough clues by simply entering a powerful god kingdom.

"I can already tell you with certainty that there is already a God King who holds dominion over the greater concept of Destruction. Your current attempts are currently too weak to be of concern, but that will change the longer you persist. Once you come close enough, you will not only provoke this God King, but also present yourself as an offering. Your entire accumulation will turn into the God King's sustenance."

Cynthia's revelation devastated Irene. The surrounding god kingdom briefly grew unstable before the powerhouse managed to rein in her emotions.

[I... feared as much.] Irene said in a remarkably controlled fashion. [I always sensed an undercurrent of danger, but it was too faint for me to take seriously. Now I know that I was merely too weak to attract the notice of this existing God King. Once I fattened myself up, I would have unknowingly turned myself into a meal.]

Ves' blood almost froze when he heard these possibilities. Cultivation turned out to be a lot crueler at this stage!

Even the most peaceful True Gods might not be able escape danger due to the prevalence of competition.

"Reaching the fourth major cultivation rank is not as dangerous as you think." Cynthia spoke. "The greater concepts are taboo, but there are an endless amount of lesser and more specific concepts that are not contested at all. As long as you become a God King based on a non-universal concept such as red humanity or living mechs, I doubt that you will encounter a single challenger."

That provided a lot of relief to Ves. Even if it would take centuries before he should ever consider this problem, he felt a lot more reassured that his way forward was not as impassible as he initially thought.

Irene was not as content with this alternative.

[Just as there are differences in strength between True Gods, there are also differences in strength between God Kings. If I settle for becoming a Lesser God King, I will always be inferior to a Greater God King.]

"That is not necessarily the case." The Superior Mother smirked. "Your understanding of the fourth major cultivation rank is too simple. In my understanding, it should be possible for you to become a Lesser God King of Explosive Shells. From there, you should continue to leverage your superior foundation and cultivation approach to develop your strength further. Once you are ready, you can issue a challenge against the current Greater God King of Destruction. The latter may be older and much more familiar with the power of destruction than you, but such an ancient practitioner must certainly be a qi cultivator or similar in origin."

That caused Irene to look a lot more hopeful than before!

If Cynthia was right about this, then she had just described a relatively simple and realistic strategy for Irene to become one of the most powerful God Kings in the universe!

Of course, just saying all of this was easy. Making it happen was countless times harder!

The Destroyer of Worlds needed to work much harder than she did before and squeeze her potential to the limit and beyond to successfully promote to the fourth major rank.

Then, she needed to spend a lot of time to develop her strength further in order to catch up with an ancient powerhouse.

This was too much to the likes of Ves!

His greatest concern at his moment was reaching the second major rank. Stuff like this was so far away from him that he thought about retreating.

Still, Ves couldn't resist the curse of knowledge. Even if he knew that learning about all of this would change his cognition forever, he simply had to know what came next!

[Can a lesser concept truly triumph over a greater concept? In the scenario that you have just described, it is unlikely that my growth can ever catch up to an ancient God King.]

"That is why it is important for you to retain and leverage the vastly superior foundation of a god pilot and a god mech." Cynthia responded. "You are made to defeat qi cultivators. Your cultivation profession has perfectly maximized the potential of both willpower and artifacts. This is your greatest advantage and can serve as the basis to your continued ascension. The cultivation hierarchy is not static. True Gods who have practiced newer and more developed cultivation methods are constantly challenging their predecessors. Only the strongest and fittest deserve to survive."

It was clear that Cynthia thought very highly of god pilots such as the Destroyer of Worlds. Perhaps they did have the capital to challenge the existing God Kings, though it would take a lot of time before they could get to this point.

Irene clearly understood this as well. She set this matter aside and raised a more immediate subject.

[You have my gratitude for clearing my doubts and informing me of certain dangers. Can you advise me on how I should proceed as a god pilot? The Kingdom of Mechs and the Red Kingdom can no longer guide my growth any longer. I do not have access to a viable blueprint that allows me to advance to the hypothetical rank of god king pilot. I would like to request your input.]

This was a heavy request, and almost no human alive possessed the qualifications to fulfill it. Neither the Rubarthans nor even the mechers knew for sure how god pilots should proceed!

Yet somehow his mother was different.

Ves found it difficult to imagine that she possessed a more comprehensive understanding of the cultivation of True Gods, but evidently she was much more knowledgeable than he thought!

"I cannot give you any guarantees that will work, but I can give you suggestions." Cynthia spoke after a short pause. "Every approach that you can choose from will entail sacrifice. You must make your choices carefully. For example, if you choose to absorb faith, your strength will grow by leaps and bounds, but you will no longer be able to exert as much control over your evolution. If you wish to preserve the relevance of your god mech, then you must cooperate with a Star Designer and constantly upgrade it to keep up with your own progress in order to maintain a balance. If that is not possible, then you should work towards phasing out your god mech or changing its fundamental nature."

Irene frowned when she heard all of that. Greater strength entailed greater sacrifices. If she wanted to become the most powerful human God King in the future, then she would have to endure many more struggles!

No matter what, she would never compromise on a vital matter.

[I will never give up on my god mech. My existence as a pilot is sacrosanct.]

"Then you cannot proceed alone. You MUST work together with Star Designer." Cynthia seriously said.

[That has always been the case from the start.]